The future has arrived! Well, the Future Games Show (FGS) has arrived, at least. It was a solid showing of some of the next big hits to come our way — one of the strongest showcases of the season so far.
Hosted by Critical Roll’s Matt Mercer and Laura Bailey, Future Games Show: Summer Showcase was packed full of new trailers and announcements.
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The showcase led with a reveal trailer for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, an exciting looking sci-fi action RPG, and closed with an eerie teaser for a game called Ritual Tides —that’s where I’ll begin this list.
Here’s our top picks from the Future Games Show:
Ritual Tides
I’ve put Ritual Tides up the top because as I write this it’s still staring at me from the end of the showcase. What on earth is this game? Why is it so mysterious? And why do I want to play it so badly!? We saw no gameplay, barely a frame of the world — yet, they capped off the show with it.
From my minimal research, Ritual Tides is upcoming first-person horror game set on a “fictional British island”. Developers Vertpaint says it’s “drenched with Lovecraftian terrors”. The teaser offered glimpses of the setting, but not enough to say more. They had me at Lovecraftian.
Ritual Tides is coming later this year to PC, consoles will come at a later date. We can expect more at the next Future Games Show in August.
Call of the Elder Gods
Call of the Elder Gods is the follow up to 2020’s Call of the Sea and developed by Out of the Blue.
This first person puzzle adventure looks to stand out from the crowd with its vibrant and diverse environments. And when we’ve got someone like Yuri Lowenthal (Marvel’s Spider-Man) behind the voice of the protagonist, it boosts my confidence that this’ll be a hit.
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There’s no release date just yet, but Call of the Elder Gods in development for the Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.
Animalkind
Cute cuddly animals in mech suits? I can get around it. This cosy, open-world town builder sees you take control of an animal, don an ancient mech suit and rebuild a village with your animal pals.
Right now, it’s in pre-alpha stages of development. But this is one I’ll be closely keeping an eye on! Animalkind is coming to PC — wishlist it now.
Deathground
There’s plenty of dinosaur survival games out there, but only a handful that offer the Jurassic Park experience. In Deathground, you can play solo or with up to three other friends as you try to survive a night in a “dinosaur infested abandoned facility”.
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As for when we’re able to be excitingly hunted by bloodthirsty, prehistoric creatures… Deathground is coming to Steam in early access (at some point) this year.
Directive 8020
Directive 8020 is latest game in the Dark Pictures anthology, this time set in space. The premise is spine tingling; the crew aboard a ship searching for a new Earth are slowly hunted by a creature capable of mimicking others. I’m imagining there’s going to be a lot of deciphering of who is who and some twisted accusations.
For the first time in a Dark Pictures game, players will be offered “Turning Points” which essentially allows you to change a decision you made previously. Traditionalists may not be keen on this, but rest assured, a survival game mode with no rewind will also be available. Directive 8020 is coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox this year.
Reach
Everyone’s favourite indie champion Shuhei Yoshida introduced this next title — probably why it’s stuck with me.
Reach sees players put on their VR headsets and battle it out with a mystical bow, jump, climb and swing through different realities. It doesn’t seem like it’s doing anything out of the ordinary, but looks like it has the potential for success in the VR landscape.
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Whatever that giant baddie is has me intrigued! Reach is being developed by nDreams Evolution and is coming to Meta Quest 3, Steam VR and PS VR2. No date has been confirmed.
Special shout out to Ground Zero, which is giving off massive Resident Evil 2 and PlayStation 2 vibes. I’d also like to mention Mafia: The Old Country — FGS featured a great deep dive into this upcoming title. Also, Fading Echo, a game where you can explore, battle and use elemental powers — really fun looking art style.
This was one of the best showcases of the season and it was tough to whittle it down to just a handful of announcements. It’s worth a watch.
